Nurses awarded for creative thinking

Tuesday 16th May 2006

Ten nurses or midwives will be the recipients of an Innovation Scholarship, worth up to $10,000. Recently announced by NSW Health, the Innovation Scholarships aim to encourage innovation in clinical areas and are being offered to nurses and midwives who demonstrate the capacity to think differently and creatively about ways of caring for patients.

NSW Minister for Health, John Hatzistergos, said ten Innovation Scholarships of up to $10,000 each would be awarded to nurses and midwives across the state to implement new, patient-focused ideas to improve patient care.

Successful models of care already introduced include:

A walking and mobility program at Port Macquarie Hospital, which has halved patient falls

A nurse-led wound management clinic at Goulburn, which has improved healing rates for patients in the community and dramatically reduced the need for home visits, freeing nurses up to provide other care in the community

Since the introduction of the nurse-led John Hunter Hospital Asthma Management Service, 100% of patients now understand their disease better, with almost all being able to recognise and monitor their asthma symptoms.

The Innovation Scholarships were announced in early March, with the closing date for applications late March. Scholarship winners will be announced in June.